The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
About the author
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including The Good Sister and The Younger Wife.
Drawing on the good, the bad and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass and a darkly charming tone. They are available worldwide in English and have been translated into twenty languages.
Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband, three children and one adorable dog.
Review
Jade Jurewicz
Tuesday 25 October, 2022
The West Australian
Her latest book, The Soulmate, is an intriguing read that is hard to put down.
“I’m not that great at the short elevator pitches, but what I always say is that I write about dysfunctional families, which means I have endless fodder,” Hepworth says.
“This book focuses on the most dysfunctional relationship of all, which is marriage, and the places it takes us, the things we put up with and what we get out of it.”
The plot is based around couple, Pippa and Gabe, who live on a cliff that has become infamous for people wanting to end their lives. Gabe makes a name for himself as a “cliff whisperer”, talking people down from a ledge.
When Pippa sees him act a little different with a woman, thinking she saw him push her, the story begins to peel back the layers of what really happened that night on the cliff. The pages brim with suspense as new secrets unfold and the couple’s idyllic life begins to unravel.
Hepworth, a mum-of-three, wrote her first book at age 29 when on maternity leave. For five years she juggled working part-time, having babies and writing three more books before The Secrets of Midwives was published internationally, allowing her to give up her day job.
Christian, or Mr Sally Hepworth if we’re going by his Instagram handle, has been by her side as an assistant, and stay-at-home dad.
Since embarking on her full-time writing career at 34, The New York Times bestselling author has released seven thrillers that explore the ins and outs of family dynamics and human behaviour.
Her 2019 novel The Mother-in-Law is in development with Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite production company. Hepworth says she’s recently seen a revised script which is very exciting, and an adaptation of The Family Next Door is also in the works.
Part of her body of work’s appeal is that she doesn’t shy away from gritty topics. The Soulmate, her eighth book, explores bipolar and trust, while others feature characters with social anxiety, postnatal depression, addiction and Alzheimer’s.
“I’d love to say they’re (her characters) based on real people, and I think that’s what a lot of people want to hear, they love the scandal of that,” Hepworth says.
“Sometimes there is a little glimpse of someone, but I am a lifelong storyteller and I love putting together people I find interesting and creating scenarios that I find interesting and I lean on real life in terms of what I’ve been hearing about.”
“Bipolar for example is something that’s kept coming up in my life . . . but I never take a person from real life and put them on the page, that doesn’t work for me.”
“I like to imagine and that’s part of the joy.”
When it comes to finding the time to focus purely on writing, without distraction, Hepworth says she’d love some tips and tricks.
“I think the tip is that you have to be OK with distractions,” she says.
“The image that people have of course is like a Colin Firth in Love Actually by a lake with a typewriter all alone, except for the Portuguese cleaning lady. But that certainly isn’t the case, especially for the women and the mums who are the vast majority of the writers I know.”
She says in the early stages of writing her distractions were the day job, children and the life you’re required to have. Now, she says they’re the career itself, whether that’s doing interviews, book tours, events or social media.
“It’s really about grabbing the time you do have and making the most of it, but not forgetting to take time away,” she says.
“The main best ideas I get or the unlocking of ideas are when I step away from the computer for a walk or a nap or go for a drive or a shower and it’s those periods away that can be the most fruitful of the day sometimes.”